Have you ever felt extremely tired but happy at the same time? Could you relate to the feeling of not realizing that you are tired because you enjoyed the work so much? That’s what we as four members of Young Professionals for Agriculture Development (YPARD) felt at the end of our participation in the Social… Continue reading The CFS43 Social Media Bootcamp: Real Good stuff!
Of the 14 side events that I attended during the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), the event on farming, innovation and youth was the most engaging and energetic. It was organized by World Farmers’ Organization (WFO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Youth Economic Summit (YES) and the Chamber of Commerce of Rome. It aimed… Continue reading Let’s make farming famous
The term ‘agropreneurship’ reminds us that even the smallest-scale farmers are business-people. Sometimes, in the context of the Committee on World Food Security(CFS) it’s easy to forget that, because we hear a lot about the differences between the private sector and civil society. A wise colleague of mine often says: “well, if you’re not for… Continue reading Agropreneurship: growing social change
Drones, aquaponics systems, solar power water desalinization, LED-lit farms with optimized photosynthesis and digital soil mapping. That’s the list of top five innovations in agriculture for 2015. How many of these are applied in Africa? And how many of these are applied on a large scale in smallholder farming? Innovation is crucial for development. We… Continue reading Making innovation “shine” in Tanzania
Agriculture and nutrition need to be addressed together rather than separately. Well, of course, that seems obvious, right? Except that, over time the division between the two has grown. It is clear that multi-sectoral approaches are required to tackle both for better nutrition and sustainable diets. As the African proverb suggests, to ‘go far’ we… Continue reading “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Money may not buy happiness, but I am certainly happier when I am not hungry. And, while I sit here typing away, satiated after a nutritiously fulfilling lunch, people are hangry...chronically hangry. We need money to feed the world. To achieve goal number 2, Zero Hunger, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we need… Continue reading Do you get hangry?
One third of all food is wasted. Much of that comes down to consumer behaviour. Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 40% of losses in developing countries occur at post-harvest and processing levels while… Continue reading Let’s talk about the price of food
Imagine a school system in which examinations, sanctions and grading do not exist. Personally, I think a small group would still feel motivated to study and do their homework, but a considerable number would set other priorities. I believe this is a good analogy for the situation of global governance for food security and it… Continue reading Does a student need grading?
Agriculture is about everyone. How food is produced is of no interest to you unless you’re going to eat,” Nettie Wiebe, La Via Campesina. All of us eat, so all of us should care about agriculture. The way we tackle this issue, though, depends on which corner we’re in. If you work in the private… Continue reading Smallholders and agribusiness: boxing match or friendly chat?
Al igual que los Transformers (como los de la película), que pueden cambiar de forma para cumplir distintas tareas, la pequeña agricultura puede también transformarse para cumplir diversas funciones, más allá de su rol de productor de alimentos. En la sesión de apertura del Comité Global de Seguridad Alimentaria N°43 (#CFS43), Elizabeth Mpfou, pequeña agricultora… Continue reading ¿Quiénes son los “Transfarmers”?
Don’t you think it is amazing that joint replacement operations are possible? Or that pneumonia and tuberculosis are not a death-warrant diagnosis? Anyone who has ever had a bad gastro-intestinal infection would agree: the discovery of antibiotics is one of the most extraordinary achievements in medical science. Antibiotics or, to be more scientifically precise, antimicrobials,… Continue reading The microbes are coming: it’s time to act!
During the 43rd Committee on World Food Security (CFS43), participants discussed farmers, ago-entrepreneurs, and family businesses. There was much talk about women farmers and their importance in rural development. But the question is: where are the women farmers? During the sessions, I was looking forward to finding the young people and women farmers. And I… Continue reading Once there was a female farmer who made cheese in Georgia…
“If you do not have healthy fishing communities, you will not have healthy fish consumers” – Naseegh Jaffer, General Secretary of World Forum of Fisher Peoples(WFFP) Benedetta Merlo is the Focal Point for Fisheries at theInternational Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty(IPC), an alliance platform for civil society organisations. As we chat over lunch, I can… Continue reading The talk about small-scale fisheries. Or not.
Plant health is fundamental to our efforts to eradicate hunger and eliminate poverty. All animals, including us human beings, are entirely dependent on plants and yet when we see a failed harvest or a dead forest, we don’t feel the same as when we see a dead or dying animal. That needs to change. Animal… Continue reading Imagine these are puppies, not plants
At the side event “Urban Food Security in an Urbanizing World: Lessons from Singapore” during this week’s Committee on World Food Security (CFS) a young man caught my attention. Actually, EVERYONE was interested in Martin Lavoo, Co-founder and director ofSustenir Agriculture Ltd a young farmer-entrepreneur from Singapore. Sustenir Agriculture, an indoor farming company based in… Continue reading High-tech farming: the key to urban food security?
Organic farming, as a practice that preserves and conserves the natural resources, is also a good strategy in adapting to our biggest agricultural challenge: climate change. The start of the 43rd Committee on World Food Security was a significant moment in the history of agriculture. Not only because many so many agricultural leaders gathered to… Continue reading Organic solutions to climate change
Without even knowing it, you may experience food globalisation during breakfast. In the bread you eat, there may be corn that is produced in the corn belts of Canada. The orange juice you drink is probably made of oranges from Spain. And for your cup of coffee, berries may have been gathered in Africa, Asia… Continue reading The future food system: the world on one plate?
Investing in agriculture is not enough to reduce poverty because the rural poor are often engaged in multiple economic activities. While pro-poor growth starts with agriculture, reducing rural poverty requires increasing the productivity of small-scale agriculture, creating jobs, fostering economic diversification and investing in people. That was one of the views expressed during Monday’s Side… Continue reading The New Development Paradigm
Egypt takes the lead in advancing the nutrition portfolio On Wednesday 19th of October, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) was to make some key decisions on advancing nutrition. Egypt has played a leading role in the CFS’s engagement in this area. As an Egyptian, I was particularly interested in knowing more about the… Continue reading Today’s special on the CFS menu: Nutrition
The variety of food on the supermarket shelves make today’s world “chooser-friendly”. When I want to buy tomatoes, for example, I’m always looking for the perfect ones (shiny, round, dark red, with the green leaves on top). As consumers, we have a right to choose what to eat or buy and where to buy. We… Continue reading Consumers… Please stop being picky!
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